A company in China is planning to build a life-size model of bus that straddles traffic and allows vehicles to pass underneath as if through a tunnel.The 3D Express Coach was designed in 2010 by engineer Youzhou Song, and was named as Time magazine’s 2010 innovation of the year.

Beiing-based Transit Explore Bus is currently building a life-size model of the bus in Changzhou and plans to test it in July or August.Passengers board the bus on the sides and head straight up to a deck, at a height similar to a pedestrian overpass, which spans the width of two traffic lanes.

Vehicles lower than 2 m high will be free to pass through the undercarriage, which will have an overall height of between 4 to 4.5 m. This idea is to reduce the number of traffic jams caused by ordinary buses loading and unloading at bus stops. The buses will carry up to 1 200 passengers, and will run along fixed routes. They will be electrically powered and travel up to 60 km/h.

More information on nextbigfuture.com